November 10, 2025 • 27 mins
Will McFadden and Tori McElhaney share their insights and frustration following the Atlanta Falcons 31-25 overtime loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Berlin, Germany. From the hot and cold offense to the continually improving defense, they break it all down in this week's Falcons Final Whistle.
0:00 - Intro
1:35 - Another frustrating loss
7:34 - Offensive struggles
13:37 - Halftime Stat
15:00 - Defensive improvements
19:40 - What lies ahead
26:51 - Outro
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Mile two to just kind of head on.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Slip its.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Falcons fans, what's up and welcome back to Falcons Final Whistle.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
I am back. I'm your host, Will McFadden.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
I want to give a big shout out to Tory
and Tarn for filling in for me while I was
away on paternity leave. My wife and I welcomed our
second child the day of the Miami Dolphins game, so
I've been out of pocket for the last couple of weeks,
just getting into the little guy spending some quality bonding time.
At some point in his life, I will have to
(00:41):
let him know that he ushered in a little bit
of a losing streak here, So we're gonna have to
have a talk about that, But that time is way
in the future. For right now, we have to dig
into Atlanta's twenty five thirty one loss of the Indianapolis Colts.
It is not the outcome anybody wanted, right, And I'm
going to start up top here just kind of explaining
why it is a little bit frustrating, I think for
(01:04):
Falcons fans in particular. But before we get into that,
I just want to give a quick reminder. If you're
new to the show, here. First off, welcome, we love
having you. We do four quarters. Each quarter is going
to be six minutes. We'll hear a whistle at the
end of every quarter. Toy is going to join me
from Berlin. She was at the game in Germany. I
was not again hanging out a little guy here, but
(01:25):
we're gonna hear from her second and third quarters, and
then Jared is going to jump on in the fourth
quarter to join me. So again, six minutes per quarter.
We got whistles, we got stats, we got opinions, and
we're ready to get going. So let's start the clock
on our first quarter. And yet so or twenty five
thirty one loss. I think they did some good things,
particularly on the defensive side of the ball. But look,
(01:48):
the main takeaway here is that you drop to three
and six and that your chances of making the postseason
are getting pretty slim.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Right at this point.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Last year you're six and three, and so of course
it is feasible to have a turnaround, you know, like
the things can change here. They're not dead in the
water just yet. But for all of the joy and
the optimism last year, sitting at six and three, coming
off in kirktober it kind of feels the opposite for
the Falcons right now, and understandably so. It feels as
(02:17):
though for every time they get something corrected and worked out,
another issue pops up. And today it was as it
was last week. The third down offense. Falcons were oh
of eight on third down. They had more manageable, I
think opportunities in that area, but it felt very boom
or busty from the offense. You had big plays, you
(02:39):
had explosive plays. I think they had fifteen plays of
ten or more yards in this game, and they were
getting their shots. It's just the moments where they have
to kind of march all the way down the field.
It does feel like they'll hit a hiccup a time
or two. And against a team like the Indianapolis Colts,
who are now eight and two and one of the
best teams in a very good team, and I was
(03:00):
watching them throughout kind of like my preparation. The team
they reminded me the most of were the early Matt
Ryan Falcons, kind of after Dirt Cutter came here and
you had Roddy White and you had Julio and the
running backs that they mixed in and out, you know,
it was, and Tony ch like that was an offense
that could go a lot of different places, that felt
like it had an identity, that felt very confident. And
(03:22):
I think the Colts are the exact same way. And
I really liked what Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Did to them.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
They made this Colts team look more kind of confused
and discombobulated on offense than I've seen any other team
do this year. The game it reminded me the most
of from this season was the Denver Broncos game against
the Indianapolis Colts early on in the year, which was
like a heavyweight fight. So again, the Falcons have shown
the ability to be there. But that is why I
(03:50):
think this one is frustrating, because yet again, you were
right there. You did play like the better team at times,
you had the lead late in the fourth quarter, and
you end up on the wrong side in the final outcome.
And it is reminiscent of Week one against Tampa Bay Buccaneers,
and honestly, having grown up here in Atlanta for the
(04:11):
longest time, you know, it has been a story of
getting close and being right there with all of the
rest of the kind of like big dogs, and at
times the Falcons have definitely been a big dog, but
more often than not, it feels like he kind of
falls just a little bit short, and over a period
of time, Yeah, I know that frustration builds within the
fan base, and today was an opportunity where you saw
(04:33):
the Falcons start out early kind of they answer that
Colts first drive, and I thought they looked so impressive, right.
They had Break London involved, they had Kyle Pitts involved,
they had both running backs involved, the offensive line dealing
with some injuries throughout the week. I thought they were
moving the ball really well against a good Colts defense.
(04:53):
So this one was not so much like a hey,
the Colts are a better team, tip your hat to
This was always going to be a tough task. This
was a chance to really, I think, make another statement,
which we've seen them do before, and so it leads
them at a point where they've got to fix it,
and they've got to fix it kind of right now,
(05:13):
whatever it is. In the history of the NFL postseason,
which is beginning in nineteen thirty three, only ten teams
have started three and six are worse and eventually made
the postseason. Right, so the last team, actually there were
two teams in twenty twenty three that did this, the
Green Bay Packers and the Los Angeles Rams, right, So
(05:33):
it is it is doable, but it's very hard. And
that is where if you're the Falcons, like I think
they are a team capable of doing something like this
because the pieces that they have in place are talented
enough to go and beat a Bills team. They are
talented enough to really handle a Washington Commanders team, right,
(05:55):
and they are good enough to go on the road
and go toe to toe with the Patriots and the
Cold to again have the best record in the league
right now.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
So this team is capable of it.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
They just need to figure out how to put all
of these pieces to get together and get them to
stay that way.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Right.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
It can't be a quarter of excellence and then two
quarters have kind of taken a step back, and then
you know, five minutes of an amazing drive and then
you kind of give up a big play defensively and
it feels like that momentum in away. So I know,
I'm just basically explaining football, right. There's a reason that
this is such a difficult sport. It's because you have
eleven guys you have to get all in sync all
(06:33):
in concert working together to do something really difficult and challenging,
all while eleven guys on the other side are being
coordinated to do everything they can to stop you. Right,
So the Falcons have the talent to be able to
beat other good teams, the chemistry, the coordination, whatever is
not there yet to do it consistently, to maintain these drives,
(06:55):
to maintain these games, and ultimately whether these ebbs and
flows of momentum that are taking place, Like I think
the Falcons are right there and they're knocking on the door,
but at this point we can't say that they are
going to walk through it because they have been kind
of right there in my opinion the last couple of weeks.
And I understand the Falcons fans frustration with what they
(07:16):
have seen because you had the opportunities and once again
it just kind of came up wrong for you and
on the other side of the win loss column. So
let's go ahead and get into the second quarter. We're
going to welcome Tory mc laney on from Berlin, and
let's keep it rolling.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Gut and Tory.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
We are now joined by Tory mclaney who is joining
us from Berlin. Live there for the game Tory. What
was the environment at Olympic Stadium. It was pretty crazy.
Speaker 4 (07:44):
I mean I went to London two years ago and
now to see Berlin, Germany and how much this fan
base truly is craving NFL football, and just the excitement
was kind of untouched, I feel like in in terms
of how how much growth there could be internationally here
(08:05):
because it was a packed house. People were excited. It
was loud. I mean, they sang country roads. It was
that was I got saw them doing the wave. Yeah,
they did the wave. It was I mean, like a
good wave. I have nothing but good things to say
about about the game's atmosphere. I have some things maybe
not so good to say about the game itself.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Yeah that's unfortunately, like we can't spend more time talking
about I had all these questions about, you know, just
the experience over there. But yeah, after this loss, it
doesn't feel like it's appropriate really to spend so much
time on that because with a performance, and we'll start
with the offense, particularly like they had today, where there
were opportunities, but once again, it's just kind of setting
(08:46):
yourself back, shooting yourself in the foot.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
The falcons, you.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Know, were elevated on third down, they averaged under five
yards of play, they were held under three hundred yards.
The Colts gained five hundred and nineteen total yards. So
offensively tory for Atlanta. What did you make of them today?
Speaker 4 (09:03):
It just it was good in spurts and not good
in others. I mean, that sounds pretty lame to say
in terms of like by way of explanation, but it's true.
The Falcons in and of themselves need to be better
on third down. You can't go zero for eight and
expect to win at this level, especially against a team
(09:24):
that was going to score. You knew going into this
game that the Culture were going to score. You knew
that they were going to get theirs. And so I
think the fact that the Falcons had opportunities to answer
and didn't and potentially went three and out or couldn't converte,
couldn't put points on the board, like, that's just it's
not a recipe for success, and it hasn't been over
the course of the last four losses. Considering that now,
(09:46):
the Falcon's third down conversion rate I believe drops to
around twenty twenty two percent, And that's just it's not
good enough.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
That's that is that is very low And yeah, you can't,
like even with plays from Kyle Pitts, even with plays
from Drake London. Today, you know like there were, like
you said, moments it felt like it was a little
all or nothing for Atlanta. They were either getting like
a first down or like a two yard gain.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
What did I know?
Speaker 3 (10:12):
You just came from Marahee Morris's press conference. What did
he have to say about that side of the ball?
Speaker 4 (10:17):
It was basically similar to what I said about These
third downs continued to be something that you talk about
and you can't be in a situation where you're talking
about it to the extent that you are and they
have to figure it out. I think that I even
asked him on Monday, like, hey, what are actionable steps
that this staff, this team is taking in order to
(10:38):
be better on third down? And then it shows up again. Also,
I'm going to get off because Mike is walking in
the room.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
Well, that was kind of the perfect time, Tori for
I guess Michael Pennicks come to the podium. What did
he have to say about today's offensive performance?
Speaker 4 (10:53):
I think that was the most dejected and down trodden
I have seen Michael Pennix maybe ever. You know, Yeah,
he's not a man of many words. He's often said
that about himself, but this was a really difficult press conference.
He was very emotional, very not emotional, but like you
could tell that he was really carrying this loss on himself.
(11:16):
He said he wasn't good enough, he was frustrated with
the performance. I asked him about third down and he
kind of said, you know, that has to be better.
It starts with him. And then I also kind of,
you know, it felt like it was a really again,
it was downtrodden. It was very heavy, and so I
did try. I was like, hey, like, you know, I
know you probably don't want to talk about this, but
(11:38):
you know, since your start in Week sixteen last year,
there's a stat that says no wide receiver quarterback duo
has more yards than you and Drake do. And he
just straight up just was like that doesn't matter. We
didn't win this game, and to that like fair like,
and I think that this loss is weighing very very
heavy on him, just based off of the three four
(11:59):
minutes that he just came in.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Yeah, I'll speak for myself very quickly, Like I saw,
we obviously see the positives of Michael Pennox right the
arm strength, the ability to kind.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Of like make these throws. But there are some areas
of his.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Game where whether it be kind of like moving a
little too quickly at times, I think through his progressions
and when he drops back, like some of the intentional groundings,
when he does get pressure and buying stuff out of structure.
Are you surprised that we have not seen more progression
and development in some of these areas of being an
NFL quarterback from him now past the halfway point potentially.
Speaker 4 (12:36):
But the thing is is, I thought I thought the
opposite last week against the Patriots. I did feel like
he was more comfortable. I did feel like it was
getting through his progressions, you know, like it. But I
think that's the point of a young rookie quarterback. You're
gonna have those consistently inconsistent exactly. And I mean that's
just kind of where it where he is right now.
And I know, you know, he's still in his first
(12:58):
true year as I started in uarterback in the NFL,
and I think that that what you're talking about is
a prime example of that youth in the league showing up.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
And we expected it to show up right.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Sorry, like when we're talking about it before the season,
we knew this was coming. It just is hard to
live through, and especially having it cost you a game
like today, and you know, at times kind of other
So the Falcons, we've seen positives, but offensively, there's clear
work to be done. That's going to do it for
our second quarter. We're going to move in a halftime
and Tori, you're going to go here from Jesse Bates
(13:32):
and we'll catch up with you in just a second.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
Awesome, see y'all soon for here, y'all soon.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
All right, let's head into the locker room for a
real quick halftime regroup presented by a Microsoft copilot. We've
got a it would have been a much better stat
if the Falcons had held on to win today's game,
but it's still representative. I think of the work on
the defensive side of the ball in the turnaround, which frankly,
nobody you know would have expected me to say this
(13:58):
sentence this time last year. The Falcons now have five
or more sacks in three games this season, which is
tied for their most amount of games in any season
in franchise history. So again, We came into this year
knowing the defense had to get fixed, especially the pass rush,
and through what has it been nine games, they still
(14:20):
they have a chance to have their best season in
terms of multi five plus sack games. They are on
pace to put up one of their best sax seasons
I think in franchise history. So the pass rush has
definitely turned around. I really liked the energy we saw
Jama Walker and James Pierce get involved again today. So
the offense we just talked about with Tori, there's some
(14:41):
work to do. But defensively, I really like what Jeff
Holbrick has done to this unit, especially with their number
one issue, which was the pass rush. I don't think
we can call it an issue anymore. So that is
our halftime stat brought to you by Microsoft Copilot. Let's
get into our third quarter, and I have a feeling
we're going to keep talking about Atlanta's defense. Moving into
the third quarter, Tory is back with me. Tory, let's
(15:03):
talk about the defense. You know, I think if you
look at just the box score and you kind of
look at some of the totals for Indianapolis's offense, you
may come away being like, Yep, the league's best offense
did it yet again. However, on the field, I feel
like Atlanta's defense played really well. They deserve to win
this game. What were your thoughts on the defense performance.
Speaker 4 (15:22):
Yeah, up until that eighty three yard touchdown run by
Jonathan Taylor, I really did feel like the defense played
well enough to one keep this offense in the game,
keep the team in the game, but also win the game.
I mean, I think that they had I'm trying to
think what it was, but held the Colts to being
(15:43):
seventeen percent on third down conversion.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Yeah, there were two of twelve because twelve.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
Yeah, so I you know, got off the field. They
had sacks, they had turnovers, Like those are the three
things that if you're a defense and you're playing against
the number one scoring offense in the league, you come
away being like, yeah, they had like six sacks, and
they had a couple turnovers, and you know, they got
off the field. It truly did feel like this defense
(16:09):
was performing to a clip that we've won come to
known them to perform at. But also two, especially in
the first three quarters, you're like, all right, like they're
given this offense a chance to win this game. And
again That's why, going back to what we were talking
about in the second quarter, that's why those third downs
that the Falcons offense weren't converting are so detrimental to
(16:33):
what even the defense was doing. Because I believe like
when there was a turnover on downs, when there was
a turnover in and of itself and the defense gets
the ball back to the offense, it's like it just
felt like they weren't doing anything off of that, which
really stresses your defense against a team that you know
is going to give the ball to Jonathan Taylor and
he's gonna get significant yards. You just know that's in
the game plan.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
Yeah, it's has a compounding effect, right, because your defense
starts out hot. If they kind of a momentum swinging play,
you're not then able to do anything with it. Not
only does it kind of deal you a little bit
of a moral blow or you know, like it's demoralizing,
but yeah, you also put your defense right back out
there and over the course of four quarters and going
(17:17):
into overtime, probably gonna wear them down a little bit.
They're also undermanned. You know, they came in into Gay's
game missing my cues. You know, they they've dealt with
some injuries obviously divined diablows out, so this was a
short staff group. And yet I did think that they
made the splash plays, they made the situational plays down
in the red zone in the short yardage mentioned two
(17:38):
for twelve, But I'm looking right now at Jonathan Taylor's total,
which yeah, somehow I missed until just this moment. Oh
my god, are you kidding? Yeah, thirty two carries to
forty four for three touchdowns.
Speaker 4 (17:52):
Yeah, I mean that does tell the story. But you know,
eighty three of those yards come on one run. But
I mean that's you know, neither here nor there. The
still would be giving up about one hundred and fifty
over one hundred and fifty rushing yards to him. But
he's the best running back in the league right now. Again,
like you knew coming in with the game plan was
you knew what they were wanting to do, and you
knew they've been able to do that in multiple different
(18:16):
ways against multiple different teams. And that's what's so I
think frustrating too, is like you knew this, you knew
what they wanted to do, you knew who they wanted
to be, and yet it still didn't work, and I
think that's you know, we talk about run defense all
the time, and it's a part of this defense that
(18:36):
you thought had gotten better over the last couple of weeks,
but then you get to today and it's like kind
of bit you in the butt yet again.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
Absolutely, I mean we thought that the run game had
kind of been not solved necessarily to the run defense,
but that they had made some strides in that area,
and of course, you know which is went over the
numbers for Jonathan Taylor. Today, the Colts could kind of
get whatever they wanted to on the ground by as
I've said before, like I do feel like the offense
plays a role in that, and just like their inability
(19:06):
to kind of capitalize off some of these turnovers, these
defensive stands. By not putting up points, you allowed the
Colts to just turn around and hand the ball off
to Jonathan Taylor all day long and he never made
them one dimensional. Did it feel like that just throughout
the game to you as well?
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (19:21):
It did. Also, guys, I'm not going to be able
to record this because now I'm being told that our
departure time is moving up to eight ten and that's
in seven minutes. I'm so sorry.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
Oh my recorder is coming to a close early. Actually,
I think we should leave all this in. This is amazing.
Speaker 4 (19:35):
Bye, Oh my god, Okay, bye, I'm so sorry.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
The life of a show woman. All right, Well, we
had a quick ending to the third quarter there, and
I'm going to welcome on our producer Jared to chat
with me in the fourth quarter. But yeah, it was
a real life look at what we kind of go
back and forth with to record these shows, especially when
Tori is on the road, and I mean, could you
be any further away than Germany right now? So they
(20:01):
had some travel speed ups it seems like happening to
getting out of there, and so she had wrap things up.
But Jared, thanks for hopping on with me and taking
her place. It's, you know, not the greatest game for
us to chat about. But what were your overall thoughts
on today's performance?
Speaker 1 (20:18):
You mentioned this earlier.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Will it just it sucks so bad that it doesn't
matter how close you are, because last week in New England,
this week in Germany, it's been right there for the taking.
Just one tiny little thing goes, it goes a different way,
and you walk out of here. These two weeks two
and oh, right against the two best teams in the
NFL by record, and it sucks one point short, six
(20:44):
points in overtime short, Like yep, there isn't really anything
else to say except this is just this sucks, and
like those are the margins in this league, right, and
it's it's why because you're completely right.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
Usable to lose two games essentially on the road against
to the best teams in the AFC, right, which is
why it is much more difficult, in my opinion, to
stomach the losses earlier in the year to Carolina and Miami.
Right when the Carolina loss happened, you're able to write
it off as an outlier as long as you keep
winning games. When you don't, then it's a very real
(21:23):
loss on your schedule. And now you're sitting here at
three and six, and man, wouldn't it be nice to
be four and five? Wouldn't it be great to be
five and four if you had won the Miami game
as well? So good teams take care of the games
that they are supposed to on their schedule, because this
is the league, and anything can happen, and a bad
team can be a good team, and a good team,
you know, can go toe to toe with another good
team and lose in overtime, and it's like that is
(21:47):
where you at the end of the day, are what
your record says you are. But the frustrating part is
that the Falcons feel as though they should be better
than what their record is right now.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Right and like you said, imagine you show up against
Carolina and Miami beat those teams, you're five and four
or four and five. The growth that we've seen from
this team in the last couple of weeks and across
the season, like you can tell that there are steps
being made, But like you said, you are what your
record says you are, and it just it feels like
it doesn't matter that this team is growing and improving,
(22:18):
that the defense is world is different than it was
last year. It just it feels like it doesn't matter
because of those two losses and moving here down the stretch,
it's great to see this improvement, but now that mountain
is so much taller to climb in order to get
to where you want to go to the playoffs, to
have a winning record again, it's just so much harder
now because of those slip ups early in the year.
(22:39):
When you were still learning with this young, young roster. Yeah,
it's a tough pill to swallow at this point.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
It absolutely is.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
And I like what you said about the kind of
improvements that they have made because the red zone has
not been an issue for Atlanta at all offensively. The
last couple of games there were three for three in
the red zone. You know, today it is a good turnaround,
and yet it feels like this is I apologize a
tortured cliche, but that for every hole in the boat
(23:07):
that they plug, kind of another one pops up, and again,
the time is dwindling here for you to be able
to fill enough of these holes and kind of keep
the boat on the water. So Jared, let's take a
quick look at like what the Falcons have coming up next,
because I think that this next three game stretch is well,
I'm just gonna say it is the most important three
(23:29):
game stretch for Atlanta the rest of the season and
maybe the entire season. And it's not going to be,
you know, a murderer's row here, but that is why
it is so important. You've got the Carolina Panthers at home,
then you're on the road against the New Orleans Saints
and you're on the road against the New York Jets.
You need to go three and zero I think in
those games to keep this season on the rails.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
What do you say absolutely?
Speaker 2 (23:49):
I mean, we've been debating it for the last couple
of weeks, like is it crunch time?
Speaker 3 (23:53):
Is it not?
Speaker 2 (23:53):
I mean that the teams are so good it is
crunch time. Now it is official, it is crunch time.
You have to win these next three games. And I
wish that we could feel confident about it. But we
saw what happened in the first game against Carolina, then
we thought, okay, everything was fixed. Then we saw what
happened against Miami, whose only win was over the New
York Jets. So like, you can't rule these games out.
(24:13):
You can't say, Okay, we're going to go on a
three game run here, and then we'll come back into
the Seattle game and we'll be a different team. We'll
have a lot of momentum and let's make a push
for the playoffs. I don't know if you can say
that with confidence right now. You can say absolutely, that's possible,
like we've seen this team stealing one hundred percent, that's possible.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
But I as a fan. You can't expect that right now.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
All right, let's play a quick game here then before
we get out of here, called like the reason why
and the reason why not?
Speaker 1 (24:40):
All right?
Speaker 3 (24:41):
So let's I want to throw this to you first.
I'll come up with my reasons. But the Falcons do
make the playoffs in twenty twenty five, what is the
reason why?
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Because they show up every single Sunday. We've seen what
happens when the Falcons show up every single Sunday. They
show up, they can go toe to toe with the
best teams in the NFL if they make the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
That's why.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
Okay, I think that's the consistency element, right is absolutely
the most important thing because it's what we haven't seen yet.
So I will say it to me. It starts with
with Michael Pennix and with this passing game. I think
if you can see him throw maybe fifteen touchdown passes,
twenty touchdown passes over this like, that's a lot, right,
(25:22):
But if that passing game can get going, I really
do think that's the last class ceiling. The Falcon's got
to break through here this season. So let's flip it around, Jared,
why not Why won't the Falcons make the playoffs in
twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Five unfortunately, And I hate to say this. I hate
to say this.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
If the Falcons don't make the playoffs, it's because of
the Caroline and the Miami losses.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
I agree.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
I think you could play your best football down the
stretch here and not make the playoffs. And it's because
of those two games that you drop that you absolutely
should have won.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
I think that is that's definitely a main factor.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
And I will take a one step further and I
will say it's because of what you pointed out with
that inconsistency. Right now, the Falcons feel like a team
that plays to the level of its opponent. When they
play a good team, a playoff team from last year,
they're in every game. They have a chance to win
these games. When they are playing teams that are looked
upon as kind of being lower in the standings or
(26:19):
just actually hard lower in the standings, we don't seem
to get the best performance out of them. So that
is something that I think the team has to figure
out and look at.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
And it starts internally.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
It starts with players in the locker room and they
have to figure out how do we show up every
single week, and how do we string things together and
not have these inconsistent bouts. Anything else you want to
add before we get out of here, Jared, just that
it is crunch time. Now is winning time. You have
to win these next three games, and if you drop
one of them, then the ship is sailed. I think yep,
(26:51):
all right, Well, guys, I wish I knew more German
because I could probably like throw a lot of German
words out here and sound angry and all of.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
That, but but I don't.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
It's a little bit of a deflating loss because they
had their moments in this game to win it against
a very very good team, and the Falcons have continued
to show flashes, they just haven't been able to put
it all together, and time is running out for them
to do just that. So thank you all so much
for listening. We will be back with Falcons Audible midweek.
And then we got the Friday five dropping on Friday
(27:22):
morning for you all. A big thank you to Tory
and Tarren for stepping in while I was away on
paternity leave, so I hope you.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
Enjoyed those two.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
The last couple of weeks, they did an amazing job,
but again thank you to Toy, thank you to Jared today,
and we will see you all next time.
Mile two to just kind of head on.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Slip its.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Falcons fans, what's up and welcome back to Falcons Final Whistle.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
I am back. I'm your host, Will McFadden.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
I want to give a big shout out to Tory
and Tarn for filling in for me while I was
away on paternity leave. My wife and I welcomed our
second child the day of the Miami Dolphins game, so
I've been out of pocket for the last couple of weeks,
just getting into the little guy spending some quality bonding time.
At some point in his life, I will have to
(00:41):
let him know that he ushered in a little bit
of a losing streak here, So we're gonna have to
have a talk about that, But that time is way
in the future. For right now, we have to dig
into Atlanta's twenty five thirty one loss of the Indianapolis Colts.
It is not the outcome anybody wanted, right, And I'm
going to start up top here just kind of explaining
why it is a little bit frustrating, I think for
(01:04):
Falcons fans in particular. But before we get into that,
I just want to give a quick reminder. If you're
new to the show, here. First off, welcome, we love
having you. We do four quarters. Each quarter is going
to be six minutes. We'll hear a whistle at the
end of every quarter. Toy is going to join me
from Berlin. She was at the game in Germany. I
was not again hanging out a little guy here, but
(01:25):
we're gonna hear from her second and third quarters, and
then Jared is going to jump on in the fourth
quarter to join me. So again, six minutes per quarter.
We got whistles, we got stats, we got opinions, and
we're ready to get going. So let's start the clock
on our first quarter. And yet so or twenty five
thirty one loss. I think they did some good things,
particularly on the defensive side of the ball. But look,
(01:48):
the main takeaway here is that you drop to three
and six and that your chances of making the postseason
are getting pretty slim.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Right at this point.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Last year you're six and three, and so of course
it is feasible to have a turnaround, you know, like
the things can change here. They're not dead in the
water just yet. But for all of the joy and
the optimism last year, sitting at six and three, coming
off in kirktober it kind of feels the opposite for
the Falcons right now, and understandably so. It feels as
(02:17):
though for every time they get something corrected and worked out,
another issue pops up. And today it was as it
was last week. The third down offense. Falcons were oh
of eight on third down. They had more manageable, I
think opportunities in that area, but it felt very boom
or busty from the offense. You had big plays, you
(02:39):
had explosive plays. I think they had fifteen plays of
ten or more yards in this game, and they were
getting their shots. It's just the moments where they have
to kind of march all the way down the field.
It does feel like they'll hit a hiccup a time
or two. And against a team like the Indianapolis Colts,
who are now eight and two and one of the
best teams in a very good team, and I was
(03:00):
watching them throughout kind of like my preparation. The team
they reminded me the most of were the early Matt
Ryan Falcons, kind of after Dirt Cutter came here and
you had Roddy White and you had Julio and the
running backs that they mixed in and out, you know,
it was, and Tony ch like that was an offense
that could go a lot of different places, that felt
like it had an identity, that felt very confident. And
(03:22):
I think the Colts are the exact same way. And
I really liked what Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Did to them.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
They made this Colts team look more kind of confused
and discombobulated on offense than I've seen any other team
do this year. The game it reminded me the most
of from this season was the Denver Broncos game against
the Indianapolis Colts early on in the year, which was
like a heavyweight fight. So again, the Falcons have shown
the ability to be there. But that is why I
(03:50):
think this one is frustrating, because yet again, you were
right there. You did play like the better team at times,
you had the lead late in the fourth quarter, and
you end up on the wrong side in the final outcome.
And it is reminiscent of Week one against Tampa Bay Buccaneers,
and honestly, having grown up here in Atlanta for the
(04:11):
longest time, you know, it has been a story of
getting close and being right there with all of the
rest of the kind of like big dogs, and at
times the Falcons have definitely been a big dog, but
more often than not, it feels like he kind of
falls just a little bit short, and over a period
of time, Yeah, I know that frustration builds within the
fan base, and today was an opportunity where you saw
(04:33):
the Falcons start out early kind of they answer that
Colts first drive, and I thought they looked so impressive, right.
They had Break London involved, they had Kyle Pitts involved,
they had both running backs involved, the offensive line dealing
with some injuries throughout the week. I thought they were
moving the ball really well against a good Colts defense.
(04:53):
So this one was not so much like a hey,
the Colts are a better team, tip your hat to
This was always going to be a tough task. This
was a chance to really, I think, make another statement,
which we've seen them do before, and so it leads
them at a point where they've got to fix it,
and they've got to fix it kind of right now,
(05:13):
whatever it is. In the history of the NFL postseason,
which is beginning in nineteen thirty three, only ten teams
have started three and six are worse and eventually made
the postseason. Right, so the last team, actually there were
two teams in twenty twenty three that did this, the
Green Bay Packers and the Los Angeles Rams, right, So
(05:33):
it is it is doable, but it's very hard. And
that is where if you're the Falcons, like I think
they are a team capable of doing something like this
because the pieces that they have in place are talented
enough to go and beat a Bills team. They are
talented enough to really handle a Washington Commanders team, right,
(05:55):
and they are good enough to go on the road
and go toe to toe with the Patriots and the
Cold to again have the best record in the league
right now.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
So this team is capable of it.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
They just need to figure out how to put all
of these pieces to get together and get them to
stay that way.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Right.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
It can't be a quarter of excellence and then two
quarters have kind of taken a step back, and then
you know, five minutes of an amazing drive and then
you kind of give up a big play defensively and
it feels like that momentum in away. So I know,
I'm just basically explaining football, right. There's a reason that
this is such a difficult sport. It's because you have
eleven guys you have to get all in sync all
(06:33):
in concert working together to do something really difficult and challenging,
all while eleven guys on the other side are being
coordinated to do everything they can to stop you. Right,
So the Falcons have the talent to be able to
beat other good teams, the chemistry, the coordination, whatever is
not there yet to do it consistently, to maintain these drives,
(06:55):
to maintain these games, and ultimately whether these ebbs and
flows of momentum that are taking place, Like I think
the Falcons are right there and they're knocking on the door,
but at this point we can't say that they are
going to walk through it because they have been kind
of right there in my opinion the last couple of weeks.
And I understand the Falcons fans frustration with what they
(07:16):
have seen because you had the opportunities and once again
it just kind of came up wrong for you and
on the other side of the win loss column. So
let's go ahead and get into the second quarter. We're
going to welcome Tory mc laney on from Berlin, and
let's keep it rolling.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Gut and Tory.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
We are now joined by Tory mclaney who is joining
us from Berlin. Live there for the game Tory. What
was the environment at Olympic Stadium. It was pretty crazy.
Speaker 4 (07:44):
I mean I went to London two years ago and
now to see Berlin, Germany and how much this fan
base truly is craving NFL football, and just the excitement
was kind of untouched, I feel like in in terms
of how how much growth there could be internationally here
(08:05):
because it was a packed house. People were excited. It
was loud. I mean, they sang country roads. It was
that was I got saw them doing the wave. Yeah,
they did the wave. It was I mean, like a
good wave. I have nothing but good things to say
about about the game's atmosphere. I have some things maybe
not so good to say about the game itself.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Yeah that's unfortunately, like we can't spend more time talking
about I had all these questions about, you know, just
the experience over there. But yeah, after this loss, it
doesn't feel like it's appropriate really to spend so much
time on that because with a performance, and we'll start
with the offense, particularly like they had today, where there
were opportunities, but once again, it's just kind of setting
(08:46):
yourself back, shooting yourself in the foot.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
The falcons, you.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Know, were elevated on third down, they averaged under five
yards of play, they were held under three hundred yards.
The Colts gained five hundred and nineteen total yards. So
offensively tory for Atlanta. What did you make of them today?
Speaker 4 (09:03):
It just it was good in spurts and not good
in others. I mean, that sounds pretty lame to say
in terms of like by way of explanation, but it's true.
The Falcons in and of themselves need to be better
on third down. You can't go zero for eight and
expect to win at this level, especially against a team
(09:24):
that was going to score. You knew going into this
game that the Culture were going to score. You knew
that they were going to get theirs. And so I
think the fact that the Falcons had opportunities to answer
and didn't and potentially went three and out or couldn't converte,
couldn't put points on the board, like, that's just it's
not a recipe for success, and it hasn't been over
the course of the last four losses. Considering that now,
(09:46):
the Falcon's third down conversion rate I believe drops to
around twenty twenty two percent, And that's just it's not
good enough.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
That's that is that is very low And yeah, you can't,
like even with plays from Kyle Pitts, even with plays
from Drake London. Today, you know like there were, like
you said, moments it felt like it was a little
all or nothing for Atlanta. They were either getting like
a first down or like a two yard gain.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
What did I know?
Speaker 3 (10:12):
You just came from Marahee Morris's press conference. What did
he have to say about that side of the ball?
Speaker 4 (10:17):
It was basically similar to what I said about These
third downs continued to be something that you talk about
and you can't be in a situation where you're talking
about it to the extent that you are and they
have to figure it out. I think that I even
asked him on Monday, like, hey, what are actionable steps
that this staff, this team is taking in order to
(10:38):
be better on third down? And then it shows up again. Also,
I'm going to get off because Mike is walking in
the room.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
Well, that was kind of the perfect time, Tori for
I guess Michael Pennicks come to the podium. What did
he have to say about today's offensive performance?
Speaker 4 (10:53):
I think that was the most dejected and down trodden
I have seen Michael Pennix maybe ever. You know, Yeah,
he's not a man of many words. He's often said
that about himself, but this was a really difficult press conference.
He was very emotional, very not emotional, but like you
could tell that he was really carrying this loss on himself.
(11:16):
He said he wasn't good enough, he was frustrated with
the performance. I asked him about third down and he
kind of said, you know, that has to be better.
It starts with him. And then I also kind of,
you know, it felt like it was a really again,
it was downtrodden. It was very heavy, and so I
did try. I was like, hey, like, you know, I
know you probably don't want to talk about this, but
(11:38):
you know, since your start in Week sixteen last year,
there's a stat that says no wide receiver quarterback duo
has more yards than you and Drake do. And he
just straight up just was like that doesn't matter. We
didn't win this game, and to that like fair like,
and I think that this loss is weighing very very
heavy on him, just based off of the three four
(11:59):
minutes that he just came in.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Yeah, I'll speak for myself very quickly, Like I saw,
we obviously see the positives of Michael Pennox right the
arm strength, the ability to kind.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Of like make these throws. But there are some areas
of his.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Game where whether it be kind of like moving a
little too quickly at times, I think through his progressions
and when he drops back, like some of the intentional groundings,
when he does get pressure and buying stuff out of structure.
Are you surprised that we have not seen more progression
and development in some of these areas of being an
NFL quarterback from him now past the halfway point potentially.
Speaker 4 (12:36):
But the thing is is, I thought I thought the
opposite last week against the Patriots. I did feel like
he was more comfortable. I did feel like it was
getting through his progressions, you know, like it. But I
think that's the point of a young rookie quarterback. You're
gonna have those consistently inconsistent exactly. And I mean that's
just kind of where it where he is right now.
And I know, you know, he's still in his first
(12:58):
true year as I started in uarterback in the NFL,
and I think that that what you're talking about is
a prime example of that youth in the league showing up.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
And we expected it to show up right.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Sorry, like when we're talking about it before the season,
we knew this was coming. It just is hard to
live through, and especially having it cost you a game
like today, and you know, at times kind of other
So the Falcons, we've seen positives, but offensively, there's clear
work to be done. That's going to do it for
our second quarter. We're going to move in a halftime
and Tori, you're going to go here from Jesse Bates
(13:32):
and we'll catch up with you in just a second.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
Awesome, see y'all soon for here, y'all soon.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
All right, let's head into the locker room for a
real quick halftime regroup presented by a Microsoft copilot. We've
got a it would have been a much better stat
if the Falcons had held on to win today's game,
but it's still representative. I think of the work on
the defensive side of the ball in the turnaround, which frankly,
nobody you know would have expected me to say this
(13:58):
sentence this time last year. The Falcons now have five
or more sacks in three games this season, which is
tied for their most amount of games in any season
in franchise history. So again, We came into this year
knowing the defense had to get fixed, especially the pass rush,
and through what has it been nine games, they still
(14:20):
they have a chance to have their best season in
terms of multi five plus sack games. They are on
pace to put up one of their best sax seasons
I think in franchise history. So the pass rush has
definitely turned around. I really liked the energy we saw
Jama Walker and James Pierce get involved again today. So
the offense we just talked about with Tori, there's some
(14:41):
work to do. But defensively, I really like what Jeff
Holbrick has done to this unit, especially with their number
one issue, which was the pass rush. I don't think
we can call it an issue anymore. So that is
our halftime stat brought to you by Microsoft Copilot. Let's
get into our third quarter, and I have a feeling
we're going to keep talking about Atlanta's defense. Moving into
the third quarter, Tory is back with me. Tory, let's
(15:03):
talk about the defense. You know, I think if you
look at just the box score and you kind of
look at some of the totals for Indianapolis's offense, you
may come away being like, Yep, the league's best offense
did it yet again. However, on the field, I feel
like Atlanta's defense played really well. They deserve to win
this game. What were your thoughts on the defense performance.
Speaker 4 (15:22):
Yeah, up until that eighty three yard touchdown run by
Jonathan Taylor, I really did feel like the defense played
well enough to one keep this offense in the game,
keep the team in the game, but also win the game.
I mean, I think that they had I'm trying to
think what it was, but held the Colts to being
(15:43):
seventeen percent on third down conversion.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Yeah, there were two of twelve because twelve.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
Yeah, so I you know, got off the field. They
had sacks, they had turnovers, Like those are the three
things that if you're a defense and you're playing against
the number one scoring offense in the league, you come
away being like, yeah, they had like six sacks, and
they had a couple turnovers, and you know, they got
off the field. It truly did feel like this defense
(16:09):
was performing to a clip that we've won come to
known them to perform at. But also two, especially in
the first three quarters, you're like, all right, like they're
given this offense a chance to win this game. And
again That's why, going back to what we were talking
about in the second quarter, that's why those third downs
that the Falcons offense weren't converting are so detrimental to
(16:33):
what even the defense was doing. Because I believe like
when there was a turnover on downs, when there was
a turnover in and of itself and the defense gets
the ball back to the offense, it's like it just
felt like they weren't doing anything off of that, which
really stresses your defense against a team that you know
is going to give the ball to Jonathan Taylor and
he's gonna get significant yards. You just know that's in
the game plan.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
Yeah, it's has a compounding effect, right, because your defense
starts out hot. If they kind of a momentum swinging play,
you're not then able to do anything with it. Not
only does it kind of deal you a little bit
of a moral blow or you know, like it's demoralizing,
but yeah, you also put your defense right back out
there and over the course of four quarters and going
(17:17):
into overtime, probably gonna wear them down a little bit.
They're also undermanned. You know, they came in into Gay's
game missing my cues. You know, they they've dealt with
some injuries obviously divined diablows out, so this was a
short staff group. And yet I did think that they
made the splash plays, they made the situational plays down
in the red zone in the short yardage mentioned two
(17:38):
for twelve, But I'm looking right now at Jonathan Taylor's total,
which yeah, somehow I missed until just this moment. Oh
my god, are you kidding? Yeah, thirty two carries to
forty four for three touchdowns.
Speaker 4 (17:52):
Yeah, I mean that does tell the story. But you know,
eighty three of those yards come on one run. But
I mean that's you know, neither here nor there. The
still would be giving up about one hundred and fifty
over one hundred and fifty rushing yards to him. But
he's the best running back in the league right now. Again,
like you knew coming in with the game plan was
you knew what they were wanting to do, and you
knew they've been able to do that in multiple different
(18:16):
ways against multiple different teams. And that's what's so I
think frustrating too, is like you knew this, you knew
what they wanted to do, you knew who they wanted
to be, and yet it still didn't work, and I
think that's you know, we talk about run defense all
the time, and it's a part of this defense that
(18:36):
you thought had gotten better over the last couple of weeks,
but then you get to today and it's like kind
of bit you in the butt yet again.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
Absolutely, I mean we thought that the run game had
kind of been not solved necessarily to the run defense,
but that they had made some strides in that area,
and of course, you know which is went over the
numbers for Jonathan Taylor. Today, the Colts could kind of
get whatever they wanted to on the ground by as
I've said before, like I do feel like the offense
plays a role in that, and just like their inability
(19:06):
to kind of capitalize off some of these turnovers, these
defensive stands. By not putting up points, you allowed the
Colts to just turn around and hand the ball off
to Jonathan Taylor all day long and he never made
them one dimensional. Did it feel like that just throughout
the game to you as well?
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (19:21):
It did. Also, guys, I'm not going to be able
to record this because now I'm being told that our
departure time is moving up to eight ten and that's
in seven minutes. I'm so sorry.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
Oh my recorder is coming to a close early. Actually,
I think we should leave all this in. This is amazing.
Speaker 4 (19:35):
Bye, Oh my god, Okay, bye, I'm so sorry.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
The life of a show woman. All right, Well, we
had a quick ending to the third quarter there, and
I'm going to welcome on our producer Jared to chat
with me in the fourth quarter. But yeah, it was
a real life look at what we kind of go
back and forth with to record these shows, especially when
Tori is on the road, and I mean, could you
be any further away than Germany right now? So they
(20:01):
had some travel speed ups it seems like happening to
getting out of there, and so she had wrap things up.
But Jared, thanks for hopping on with me and taking
her place. It's, you know, not the greatest game for
us to chat about. But what were your overall thoughts
on today's performance?
Speaker 1 (20:18):
You mentioned this earlier.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Will it just it sucks so bad that it doesn't
matter how close you are, because last week in New England,
this week in Germany, it's been right there for the taking.
Just one tiny little thing goes, it goes a different way,
and you walk out of here. These two weeks two
and oh, right against the two best teams in the
NFL by record, and it sucks one point short, six
(20:44):
points in overtime short, Like yep, there isn't really anything
else to say except this is just this sucks, and
like those are the margins in this league, right, and
it's it's why because you're completely right.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
Usable to lose two games essentially on the road against
to the best teams in the AFC, right, which is
why it is much more difficult, in my opinion, to
stomach the losses earlier in the year to Carolina and Miami.
Right when the Carolina loss happened, you're able to write
it off as an outlier as long as you keep
winning games. When you don't, then it's a very real
(21:23):
loss on your schedule. And now you're sitting here at
three and six, and man, wouldn't it be nice to
be four and five? Wouldn't it be great to be
five and four if you had won the Miami game
as well? So good teams take care of the games
that they are supposed to on their schedule, because this
is the league, and anything can happen, and a bad
team can be a good team, and a good team,
you know, can go toe to toe with another good
team and lose in overtime, and it's like that is
(21:47):
where you at the end of the day, are what
your record says you are. But the frustrating part is
that the Falcons feel as though they should be better
than what their record is right now.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Right and like you said, imagine you show up against
Carolina and Miami beat those teams, you're five and four
or four and five. The growth that we've seen from
this team in the last couple of weeks and across
the season, like you can tell that there are steps
being made, But like you said, you are what your
record says you are, and it just it feels like
it doesn't matter that this team is growing and improving,
(22:18):
that the defense is world is different than it was
last year. It just it feels like it doesn't matter
because of those two losses and moving here down the stretch,
it's great to see this improvement, but now that mountain
is so much taller to climb in order to get
to where you want to go to the playoffs, to
have a winning record again, it's just so much harder
now because of those slip ups early in the year.
(22:39):
When you were still learning with this young, young roster. Yeah,
it's a tough pill to swallow at this point.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
It absolutely is.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
And I like what you said about the kind of
improvements that they have made because the red zone has
not been an issue for Atlanta at all offensively. The
last couple of games there were three for three in
the red zone. You know, today it is a good turnaround,
and yet it feels like this is I apologize a
tortured cliche, but that for every hole in the boat
(23:07):
that they plug, kind of another one pops up, and again,
the time is dwindling here for you to be able
to fill enough of these holes and kind of keep
the boat on the water. So Jared, let's take a
quick look at like what the Falcons have coming up next,
because I think that this next three game stretch is well,
I'm just gonna say it is the most important three
(23:29):
game stretch for Atlanta the rest of the season and
maybe the entire season. And it's not going to be,
you know, a murderer's row here, but that is why
it is so important. You've got the Carolina Panthers at home,
then you're on the road against the New Orleans Saints
and you're on the road against the New York Jets.
You need to go three and zero I think in
those games to keep this season on the rails.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
What do you say absolutely?
Speaker 2 (23:49):
I mean, we've been debating it for the last couple
of weeks, like is it crunch time?
Speaker 3 (23:53):
Is it not?
Speaker 2 (23:53):
I mean that the teams are so good it is
crunch time. Now it is official, it is crunch time.
You have to win these next three games. And I
wish that we could feel confident about it. But we
saw what happened in the first game against Carolina, then
we thought, okay, everything was fixed. Then we saw what
happened against Miami, whose only win was over the New
York Jets. So like, you can't rule these games out.
(24:13):
You can't say, Okay, we're going to go on a
three game run here, and then we'll come back into
the Seattle game and we'll be a different team. We'll
have a lot of momentum and let's make a push
for the playoffs. I don't know if you can say
that with confidence right now. You can say absolutely, that's possible,
like we've seen this team stealing one hundred percent, that's possible.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
But I as a fan. You can't expect that right now.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
All right, let's play a quick game here then before
we get out of here, called like the reason why
and the reason why not?
Speaker 1 (24:40):
All right?
Speaker 3 (24:41):
So let's I want to throw this to you first.
I'll come up with my reasons. But the Falcons do
make the playoffs in twenty twenty five, what is the
reason why?
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Because they show up every single Sunday. We've seen what
happens when the Falcons show up every single Sunday. They
show up, they can go toe to toe with the
best teams in the NFL if they make the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
That's why.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
Okay, I think that's the consistency element, right is absolutely
the most important thing because it's what we haven't seen yet.
So I will say it to me. It starts with
with Michael Pennix and with this passing game. I think
if you can see him throw maybe fifteen touchdown passes,
twenty touchdown passes over this like, that's a lot, right,
(25:22):
But if that passing game can get going, I really
do think that's the last class ceiling. The Falcon's got
to break through here this season. So let's flip it around, Jared,
why not Why won't the Falcons make the playoffs in
twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Five unfortunately, And I hate to say this. I hate
to say this.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
If the Falcons don't make the playoffs, it's because of
the Caroline and the Miami losses.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
I agree.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
I think you could play your best football down the
stretch here and not make the playoffs. And it's because
of those two games that you drop that you absolutely
should have won.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
I think that is that's definitely a main factor.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
And I will take a one step further and I
will say it's because of what you pointed out with
that inconsistency. Right now, the Falcons feel like a team
that plays to the level of its opponent. When they
play a good team, a playoff team from last year,
they're in every game. They have a chance to win
these games. When they are playing teams that are looked
upon as kind of being lower in the standings or
(26:19):
just actually hard lower in the standings, we don't seem
to get the best performance out of them. So that
is something that I think the team has to figure
out and look at.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
And it starts internally.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
It starts with players in the locker room and they
have to figure out how do we show up every
single week, and how do we string things together and
not have these inconsistent bouts. Anything else you want to
add before we get out of here, Jared, just that
it is crunch time. Now is winning time. You have
to win these next three games, and if you drop
one of them, then the ship is sailed. I think yep,
(26:51):
all right, Well, guys, I wish I knew more German
because I could probably like throw a lot of German
words out here and sound angry and all of.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
That, but but I don't.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
It's a little bit of a deflating loss because they
had their moments in this game to win it against
a very very good team, and the Falcons have continued
to show flashes, they just haven't been able to put
it all together, and time is running out for them
to do just that. So thank you all so much
for listening. We will be back with Falcons Audible midweek.
And then we got the Friday five dropping on Friday
(27:22):
morning for you all. A big thank you to Tory
and Tarren for stepping in while I was away on
paternity leave, so I hope you.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
Enjoyed those two.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
The last couple of weeks, they did an amazing job,
but again thank you to Toy, thank you to Jared today,
and we will see you all next time.
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